The Great British Sewing Bee’s Patrick Grant on why he keeps his relationship private

Patrick Grant, one of the judges on The Great British Sewing Bee, has revealed that he doesn’t talk much about his relationships because one ex-girlfriend ended up being stalked.

The designer and business owner has been a judge on the BBC series since 2013, and dated fellow British fashion designer Katie Hillier from 2007 until 2015, having met at a party in New York. “When we got back to London, we hooked up pretty much straight away,” Grant told The Independent in 2012.

“We just seemed to have a tremendous amount in common.”

Admiring Hillier’s strong work ethic and enthusiasm, he added: “She works constantly. I try to help her step out a bit and relax, she is the best person to share a country walk and a spot of bird-watching with.”

For her part, Hillier has described Grant as feisty, adding: “He is super switched-on and knows a lot of stuff I don’t know about. We talk incessantly and argue a lot as well. He’s also one of those people who can make fun happen out of nothing.”

In 2016, after Grant had moved out of the homes they shared and into a house in Gipsy Hill, South London, he was in something of a “dating haze”, according to The Times. He wasn’t on Tinder because “it’s not very BBC Two”, he said. And, unlike The Great British Bake Off‘s Paul Hollywood, who “gets bags full of pants in the post, I don’t get anything”, he added.

However, he revealed that had started dating someone new but would only say that she wasn’t anyone famous.

In another interview with The Times, seven years later, Grant said the fame afforded to him by The Great British Sewing Bee had made life difficult when it came to relationships.

“My last girlfriend [Hillier] was so badly stalked online while we were together, I’m loath to put someone else through that,” he said before sharing that he had begun to see a 40-year-old dentist.

“Who am I to complain if audiences say I scrub up well,” he said of the attention he receives. “I’d rather focus on work, to be honest.”

The Great British Sewing Bee airs on BBC One on Tuesdays at 9pm.

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